Wide faced propeller / turbine blade assembly

ABSTRACT

An improved propeller/turbine blade assembly with wide faced blades in order to more efficiently convert a moving fluid&#39;s kinetic energy into mechanical rotational energy by optimizing the bladed assembly&#39;s frontal surface interaction with the swept blade area of a moving fluid. This improved blade surface interaction is accomplished through new and novel design features of the assembly&#39;s blades. These design features include the following; that the designed assembly has a much larger total blade footprint than prior bladed assemblies, that the assembly&#39;s blades overlap each other with the leading edge of the following blade overlapping the trailing edge of the preceding blade, that the assembly has multiple designed blade twist angles that occur within each blade and at segmented lengths along each blade and that the assembly&#39;s blades are dimensionally segmented with width to length ratios as a percentage of overall length.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

These propeller/turbine blade assemblies will be used in the field of kinetic energy conversion. These propeller/turbine blade assemblies will more efficiently convert the kinetic energy of a moving fluid into mechanical rotational energy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

What is needed in the kinetic energy conversion field of moving fluids is a more efficient blade assembly to convert the moving fluid's kinetic energy into the desired mechanical rotational energy form that can then be coupled to rotational shaft driven machinery. That machinery can be any number of mechanical rotational shaft driven types. Those machines would include, but not be limited to, electric generators and mechanical pumps.

The following disclosed invention will accomplish this energy conversion by contacting and redirecting more of the swept blade area of the moving fluid than prior bladed assemblies have accomplished in the past. Common bladed assemblies up to now have relied primarily on the difference in the positive and negative pressure on the front and back of the blades in order to cause a rotational movement of the bladed assembly. This has been the common aeronautical and nautical propeller engineering approach, but these common propellers were originally designed to screw or chop their way through a fluid while moving forward with their attached shaft driven motor. Most previous blade designs were based on motor driven blades, primarily to achieve forward movement through a fluid. These previously designed bladed assemblies were then converted for use in windmills and then, more recently, the hydrokinetic field of energy conversion.

Someone who is familiar with a standard propeller is aware that the propeller blade's contact footprint is a small fraction of the propeller blade's rotational area, often called the blade's swept area. This small blade footprint on the moving fluid's swept area by the standard propeller assembly, at any given second in time, is why prior bladed assemblies convert little of the moving fluid's kinetic energy into mechanical rotational torque energy.

What is needed and disclosed in this invention is a different design approach to the problem of small amounts of kinetic energy conversion achieved by standard propeller bladed assemblies. The wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly is designed to contact and redirect more of the moving fluid. The disclosed wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly physically covers more of the swept blade area of the moving fluid with an expanded blade footprint. This superior interaction with the moving fluid will result in greater rotational torque movement of the blade assembly and thus generate greater rotational torque energy.

The disclosed wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly will accomplish this more efficient energy conversion in a number of new and novel ways, as discussed below:

The first design goal of the wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly's design is to have the blades interact with as many square inches of the swept blade area of the moving fluid as possible. A major portion of this goal is accomplished by starting with the disclosed wide faced blade. These assemblies are made up of multiple blades attached to a central hub which will receive a rotational shaft. Each blade is wider than the pie shaped section of the propeller/turbine assembly swept blade area in which it is fitted. This design allows the wide blade assembly, as viewed from the front, to cover more swept blade area than previous propeller/turbine blade assemblies.

The second design goal was to design the blade with varying blade twist angles the further from the center of rotation that a section of blade was located. These blade twist angle requirements were based on the design considerations of: the blade internal structural resistance capacity, maximizing the overall area of the blade frontal surface presented to the oncoming moving fluid, slimming the profile of the leading edge that rotates horizontally into the moving fluid, manipulating the positive and negative pressure areas on the frontal and rearward surfaces of the blade, curving the fluid directing contours of the frontal and rearward surfaces of the blade and anticipating the designed rotational speed of the blade.

The next design goal for the wide based propeller/turbine blade assembly is to retain and redirect more the moving fluid across the face of each individual blade than with other blade designs, This longer fluid retention and redirection of the fluid on the blade is accomplished by extending the trailing edge of each blade to end behind and under the following blade's leading edge, thus overlapping the blades. This blade overlap forces the retained fluid on the surface of the blade to travel a longer distance to exit the trailing edge of the blade.

The final design element also involves longer retention of the fluid on the blades. In conventional bladed designs a portion of the available moving fluid is lost by spillage over the leading edge of the blade. The wide faced blade reduces the lost fluid spillage by incorporating the internal spine curvature separation line on the frontal surface of the blade. This isolation between the leading edge and trailing edge surfaces of the blade presents a physical barrier to the movement of the fluid towards the leading edge of the blade and thus retains more of the fluid on the trailing edge surface of the blade. The longer the fluid is retained on the blade in this beneficial part of the blade, the more time it is being pushed opposite to the designed rotational direction by the following moving fluid. This pushing action forces more fluid to exit the trailing edge of the blade and thus imparts additional forward rotational thrust to the blade.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of a wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly enhanced with a nose cone.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly enhanced with a nose cone.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an individual wide faced propeller/turbine blade.

FIG. 4 is a ¾ outline view of an individual wide faced propeller/turbine blade showing the section lines A-A to D-D, and the percentage of blade length to blade twist at segmented lengths along the blade.

FIG. 5 is a ¾ outline view of an individual wide faced propeller/turbine blade showing the blade's internal components and connection plates.

FIG. 6 is the cut through sections at A-A to D-D, complete with the proportionate wide faced blade twist angles at those segmented section lines.

FIG. 7 is a ¾ outline view of the structural metal mesh internal layer of the typical wide faced propeller/turbine blade.

FIG. 8 is the section through the wide faced propeller/turbine blade along section line M-M showing the internal metal mesh structural layer and the typical closed cell insulation center of the typical wide faced blade.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade Assembly Drawing Codes are listed below in order to help in understanding the following detailed description of the drawings.

1) Individual Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade Assembly. 2) Center Nose Cone on a Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade Assembly. 3) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Internal Spine Curvature Separation Line. 4) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Trailing Edge. 5) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Leading Edge. 6) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Tip. 7) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Frontal Facing Surface. 10) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Assembly Hub. 11) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Rearward Facing Surface. 12) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Root. 19) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Connection to the Assembly Hub. 21) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Root to Hub Mounting Angle. 22) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's First Segment Twist Angle. 23) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Second Segment Twist Angle. 24) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Third Segment Twist Angle. 25) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Tip Segment Twist Angle. 26) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Internal Center Spine Support. 27) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Internal Rib Supports. 28) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Root Hub Connection Plate. 29) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Tip Spine Curve Support Plate. 30) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Metal Mesh Structural Layer. 31) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Closed Cell Center Insulation. L) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Overall Length, From Root to Tip. L1) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's First Segment of Length, as a Percentage of the Overall Length (L). L2) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Second Segment of Length, as a Percentage of the Overall Length (L). L3) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Third Segment of Length, as a Percentage of the Overall Length (L). L4) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Forth Segment of Length, as a Percentage of the Overall Length (L). L5) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Fifth Segment of Length, as a Percentage of the Overall Length (L). WA) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Cross Section at Section Line A-A. WB) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Cross Section at Section Line B-B. WC) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Cross Section at Section Line C-C. WD) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Cross Section at Section Line D-D. MM) Wide Faced Propeller/Turbine Blade's Cross Section at Section Line M-M.

FIG. 1 is the frontal view of a wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly (1) showing the individual blade's features, the blade's frontal facing surface (7), the blade's Internal Spine Curvature Separation Line as the dashed line (3), the blade's trailing edge (4), the blade's leading edge (5), the relationship and overlap of the following blade's leading edge over the preceding blade's trailing edge, the blade's tip (6), the rotational direction is counter clockwise and that this assembly has the enhanced blade assembly nose cone (2).

FIG. 2 is the side view of a wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly (1), showing the individual blade's features, the Internal Spine Curvature Separation Line, which is the dashed line (3), the blade's trailing edge (4), blade's leading edge (5), the relationship and overlap of each following blade's leading edge over the preceding blade's trailing edge, the blade's tip (6), the blade's frontal facing surface (7), the blade assembly hub (10), the blade's rearward facing surface (11), the blade's root (12), the rotational direction is counter clockwise and that this assembly has the enhanced blade assembly nose cone (2).

FIG. 3 is the front of an individual wide faced propeller/blade showing the Internal Spine Curvature Separation Line, dashed line (3), the blade's trailing edge (4), the blade's leading edge (5), the blade's tip (6), the blade's frontal facing surface (7), the blade's root (12), and that the rotational direction is counter clockwise.

FIG. 4 is an outline ¾ frontal view of an individual wide faced propeller/blade. It was drawn in this manner in order to more clearly show the mounting angle to the blade array hub (10), the Internal Spine Curvature Separation Line (3), the blade's trailing edge (4), the blade's leading edge (5), the blade's tip (6), the blade's frontal facing surface (7), the assembly hub (10) and the blade's root (12). This drawing further shows the section lines A-A, B-B, C-C, and D-D through the blade. Along the length of the blade are shown the segmented lengths L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5. They are a percentage of the blade's overall length L. This drawing also shows the root to hub mounting angle (21) and that the blades are offset from perpendicular in relationship to the assembly hub (10). L1 is the segmented length from the hub mounting surface to the section line A-A, looking back towards the blade assembly hub (10). This length is between 10 and 15% of the overall blade length L. Continuing along the blade, L2 is the segmented length from the section line A-A to the section line B-B. This length is between 20 and 30% of the overall blade length L. Continuing along the blade, L3 is the segmented length from the section line B-B to the section line C-C. This length is between 25 and 35% of the overall blade length L. Continuing along the blade, L4 is the segmented length from the section line C-C to the section line D-D. This distance is between 20 and 30% of the overall blade length L. The end length L5 is the segmented length from the section line D-D to the blade tip (6). This length is between 10 and 15% of the overall blade length L.

FIG. 5 is also a ¾ outline frontal view of an individual wide faced propeller/blade. It was drawn in this manner in order to more clearly show the relationship and location of the blade's internal skeleton components. At the blade root (12), connection (19), to the assembly hub (10), is found the root hub connection plate, (28). Connected to root hub connection plate is the root end of the internal center spine support (26). Along the internal center spine support starting above the root hub connection plate is a series of internal rib supports, (27). These internal rib supports are pairs of horizontal blade body supports that span from the internal center spine support to the blade's leading and trailing edges. At the end of the internal center spine support is the blade's tip spine curve support plate, (29). This tip spine curve support plate adds rigidity to the blade's tip and allows the internal spine curvature separation line to make the required curve at the tip of the blade, thus allowing the blade to shed the fluid retained on the blade in the designed direction.

FIG. 6 is composed of four different drawings showing the detailed section views at section lines A-A through D-D of a typical wide faced turbine blade, the views also include the corresponding blade twist angles (22) through (25), as the sections views progress from the blade's root (12) to the blade's tip (6). The blade twist angles are taken clockwise from a perpendicular angle to the blade array hub (10), which corresponds to the axis of the longitudinal rotational shaft for the assembly and therefore the perpendicular angle would be our base line of 0 degrees. The sectional view drawings also show the blade's widths at the section lines A-A through D-D, as the section lines progress from the blade's root (12) to the blade's tip (6), these changing blade's widths at the section lines A-A through D-D are noted on the sectional views as WA, WB, WC and WD. Starting with Sec. A-A, which shows the blade's width WA that is a percentage of the blade's overall length L. The blade's width WA at the section line A-A is between 24 and 29% of the blade's overall length L. The blade twist angle (22) at the section line A-A is very similar to the root to hub mounting angle (21) of an individual blade's root (12), mounted to the blade assembly hub (10). The similar angles (21) and (22) are between 30 and 40 degrees clockwise from our base line of 0 degrees. The angle of attack of each blade section into the oncoming moving fluid is described as the clockwise angle from the perpendicular angle to the blade assembly hub (10), which is our base line, 0 degrees, which is also the longitudinal axis of the rotational shaft of the blade assembly. The section view at the section line B-B shows the blade's width WB that is a percentage of the blade's overall length L. The blade's width WB at section line B-B is between 60 and 70% of the wide faced blade's overall length L. The blade twist angle (23) has the same clock wise relationship to a perpendicular angle to the blade assembly hub (10). The blade twist angle (23) is between 60 and 70 degrees clockwise from the base line, 0 degrees. Continuing on, the section view at the section line C-C shows the blade's width WC that is a percentage of the blade's overall length L. The blade's width WC at section line C-C is between 63 and 72% of the blade's overall length L. The blade twist angle (24) has the same relationship to a perpendicular angle to the blade array hub (10). The blade twist angle (24) is between 70 and 80 degrees clockwise from the base line, 0 degrees. The end section view D-D shows the blade's width WD that is a percentage of the blade's overall length L. The blade's width WD at D-D is between 40 and 47% of the blade's overall length L. The blade twist angle (25) is in the same relationship to a perpendicular angle to the blade array hub (10). The blade twist angle (25) is between 80 and 90 degrees clockwise from the base line, 0 degrees. These section views also show the internal blade support components. Starting with the blade root hub connection plate, (28) shown in section view A-A. The internal center spine support, (26) and the internal rib supports, (27) are shown in both section views B-B and C-C. The final section view D-D, shows the internal center spine support (26), the internal rib supports (27) and the tip spine curve support plate, (29). As shown, all of the internal structural support components are contained within the body of the blades starting from the blade root (12) and ending at the blade tip (6), including the structural metal mesh layer (30) and the closed cell center insulation (31).

FIG. 7 is the ¾ view of the wide faced propeller/turbine blade showing the blade's root (12), the assembly hub (10), the blade's tip (6), the blades frontal face (7), the Internal Spine curvature Separation Line (3), the section line M-M and the Blade length L. This view primarily shows the internal metal mesh structural layer (30), on both the front and rear of the typical blade,

FIG. 8 is the section MM of a wide face blade that occurs along the section line of M-M in FIG. 7. This figure shows the internal parts of a typical wide faced blade including:

The internal center spine support, (26) and the internal rib supports, (27) the internal metal mesh structural layer, (30) and the internal closed cell center insulation (31), also shown in this drawing is the: Internal Spine Curvature Separation Line, which is the dashed line (3), the blade's trailing edge (4), blade's leading edge (5), the blade's tip (6), the blade's frontal facing surface (7), the blade assembly hub (10) and the blade's rearward facing surface (11). 

What is claimed is:
 1. A wide faced propeller/turbine blade assembly is disclosed for the conversion of a moving fluid's kinetic energy into mechanical rotational torque energy in which the assembly will; be located and aligned within a moving fluid in such a manner that the assembly will be made to rotate as the result of being subjected to the kinetic energy contained within said moving fluid, be constructed with a plurality of wide faced propeller/turbine blades, which will be placed in a symmetrical fan type configuration, circumferentially and in an angular equidistantly spaced manner on to the assembly's rotational hub, the assembly's rotational hub will be located coaxially about a longitudinal centerline axis and be connected to a rotational horizontal shaft along the longitudinal centerline axis, wherein the horizontal shaft will convey the rotating assembly's produced mechanical rotational energy.
 2. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade has: a blade root that is joinable to the assembly hub, a blade tip, a blade leading edge extending from said root to said tip, a blade trailing edge extending from said root to said tip, a blade frontal facing surface extending from said blade root to said blade tip and extending between the blade leading edge and the blade trailing edge, a blade rearward facing surface extending from said blade root to said, blade tip and extending between the blade leading edge and the blade trailing edge.
 3. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 where each blade has contained within it's body an internal center spine support; and that the internal center spine support runs from the blade root hub connection plate, in a radial direction from the hub, to the internal tip spine curve support plate, and that the internal center spine support adds the required structural support, blade thickness and rigidity to the areas of the blade occurring along the internal spine curvature separation line, as seen on the frontal facing surface of the blade, and thus the internal center spine support creates the internal spine curvature separation line on the frontal surface of the blade, and that the internal spine curvature separation line starts at the root section of the blade on an almost straight radial line, at the hub and becomes curved towards the trailing edge of the blade as it reaches the blade tip's internal spine curve support plate, and that the separation line between the frontal facing surface's leading edge blade area and the frontal facing surface's trailing edge blade area is created by and lies generally over the internal center spine support, and that the separation line between the rearward facing surface's leading edge blade area and the rearward facing surface's trailing edge blade area is created by and lies generally over the internal center spine support.
 4. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade has contained within its body a series of internal rib supports; and that these internal rib supports are attached to the internal center spine support contained within each blade, and that these internal rib supports run internally from each side of the internal center spine support outwardly towards the leading and trailing edges of the blade, and that these multiple sets of internal ribs begin above the root hub support plate and continue repetitively until ending at the tip spine curve support plate, and that these internal rib supports add the required structural support, rigidity and complex convex/concave designed curvatures to the frontal facing and rearward facing surfaces of the blade.
 5. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade may have a layer of expanded metal mesh, woven metal fabric, alternating directional strips of metal forming a metal weave, or another form of the internal structural metal mesh type layer, and that this structural metal mesh layer may be attached to the internal center spine supports and or the internal rib supports, and that this structural metal mesh layer may be attached to the internal center spine supports and or the internal rib supports with either mechanical fasteners, welding, heat fusion of the materials, or the use of glue like substances and or a combination of these methods to attach the structural mesh layer to the other internal structural components of the blades.
 6. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade may have the interior of each blade being comprised of and consist of any number of commonly known closed cell insulation materials, and that the closed cell insulation material may be chosen from the available insulation types commonly known based on standard design properties such as the material weight, the structural integrity of the material, the cohesion factors of the material, the expansion or contraction factors of the material and the material's resistance to water intrusion, especially under pressure.
 7. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade will have a designed leading edge convex curve in the blade's direction of rotation and also have a designed dissimilar trailing edge convex curve which is opposite from the direction of rotation.
 8. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade is designed so that between 30 to 45% of the blade's volume lies in the direction of rotation, forward of the internal center spine support and that between 55 to 70% of each blade's volume lies rearward of the internal center spine support.
 9. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade is; rotationally twisted about the blade's internal center spine support and that the internal center spine support of each blade is generally located perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline axis of the blade's assembly hub.
 10. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade has a range of segmented blade lengths that occur along the blade, from the blade root towards the blade tip, and that occurring at those segmented blade lengths along the blade are a corresponding range of segmented blade widths, and that both the segmented blade lengths and blade widths are a designed percentage of each blade's overall length.
 11. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade's horizontal rotational twist around it's internal center support spine creates a range of blade twist angles occurring at the noted range of segmented blade lengths along the blade, and that these range of blade twist angles are relative to the assembly's longitudinal centerline axis, which is also perpendicular to the blade's assembly hub, and that these blade twist angles are clockwise in nature.
 12. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade has a designed complex concave and convex blade cross section that results from a combination of: the range of segmented blade lengths, the range of segmented blade widths, the rotational twist about the internal center spine support at the segmented blade lengths the design of the internal rib supports the internal structural metal mesh applied to both the frontal facing and rearward facing sub surfaces of the blade and the internal structural metal mesh's attachment to the blade's internal rib supports and/or the blade's internal center spine support.
 13. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein each blade's trailing edge and leading edge protrudes generally perpendicular to and in front of and to the rear of the blade's assembly hub, when the blade is viewed from the tip looking towards the blade's root and the assembly hub, and that these designed leading and trailing blade protrusions are the result of the combination of the following design factors: the range of the segmented blade lengths, the range of the segmented blade widths, the rotational twist angles about the internal center spine support at the corresponding segmented blade lengths, the design of the internal rib supports which occur at the corresponding segmented blade lengths. and the internal structural metal mesh applied to both the frontal facing and rearward facing sub surfaces of the blade.
 14. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1 wherein the values for: the segmented blade lengths of: (L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5) are: 10-15%, 20-30%, 25-35%, 20-30% and 10-15% of the overall blade length (L), respectfully, the segmented blade widths of: (WA, WB, WC and WD) are: 24-29%, 60-70%, 63-72% and 40-47% of the overall blade length (L), respectfully, the blade twist angles of: (21, 22, 23, 24 and 25) are: 30-40 degrees, 30-40 degrees, 60-70 degrees, 70-80 degrees and 80-90 degrees, respectfully, relative to the longitudinal axis of 0 degrees, and that these blade twist angles occur in a clockwise manner.
 15. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the following blade's leading edge partially overlaps each of the preceding blade's trailing edge, when the bladed assembly is viewed from the front;
 16. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein adjoining overlapping blades have a designed space between their corresponding rearward facing surfaces and the overlapped blade's frontal facing surface, and that the space between the adjoining overlapped blades is designed to channel the moving fluid between the adjoining blades as the assembly rotates.
 17. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein the designed overlap of the adjoining blades occurs as combination of the following design factors: the number of blades in the assembly, the diameter of the completed assembly and the percentage of swept blade area coverage required of the assembly.
 18. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein the assembly shall be comprised of multiple blades and that an assembly of 8 blades has been disclosed.
 19. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1, in which the assembly may be changed to a clockwise rotational assembly and that in that case; the design of the blades, and all other required assembly components shall be altered in order to accomplish the new rotational direction.
 20. The propeller/turbine blade assembly of claim 1, in which a further embodiment to the bladed assembly disclosed may include the addition of a common component to such a propeller/turbine blade assembly which is known in the art as a nose cone or spinner. 